


Blackmail?

by BCBoo



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:00:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12205275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BCBoo/pseuds/BCBoo
Summary: Do you have room for one more season 18 fic before season 19 begins?Something has caused Barba to recuse himself from a case, Sonny worries that it's him.





	Blackmail?

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that's been sitting on my laptop for a while. I just rewatched the episode and thought what the hell, I'l post it.

Everyone in the squad was on edge. Their case had almost screeched to a halt and no-one knew why. They were discussing the amount of data that needed to be trawled though before they could go any further.

“Liv listen, when Willard said to you ‘your friend Barba’?” Fin asked Olivia.

“He said that?” Amanda jumped in.

“Yeah how does he know that you and Barba are friends?” Sonny asked.

“You guys we have to assume he’s been reading our e-mails.” Olivia replied.

‘Shit shit shit’ Sonny thought. ‘Do they have something on Rafi? Is it me?’ His mind was running a mile a minute. Did Willard find out that the ADA was in a secret relationship with one of the detectives he worked with nearly every day? A relationship that could get them both in serious trouble. 

“We know he had with Bennett, ok, then he blackmailed him so if he’s hacking Barba…” said Fin, reaching the conclusion Sonny had already jumped too, but he needed to act natural, Sonny was good at over reacting at things that affected people he cared about.

“You think he’s blackmailing Barba too.” 

“Barba was getting us a warrant then all of a sudden he didn’t” Fin continued

Sonny knew they must be on the right track, their illicit relationship not withstanding Rafael always did the right thing, even if sometimes he went the wrong way about it. Sonny gestured to suggest Fin could be right.

“I’m open for another explanation but it makes sense to me. What do you think Liv?” Fin put the conversation back in Olivia’s court.

“I don’t know. I think, we need more information.” She remained non-comital. 

While they were talking Sonny was frantically trying to remember if he’d said anything to Rafael on an e-mail or a text that could lead someone to think they were seeing each other. There were work related messages, there must be hundreds of those. Rafael helped Sonny when he was studying for the bar exam so there could be some messages about that floating around? Rafael was only ever formal in those though. Sonny occasionally put a smiley or winking face at the end of a message but he did that with lots of people, he only did it to Rafael because it bugged him. They specifically didn’t text each other anything remotely flirty as they both had work phones, the last thing Sonny wanted was the NYPD getting hold of his attempts at seduction, despite how successful they were. Everything was said face to face, in private. Sonny inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, there can’t be anything that could connect them. It’s like they knew there was a risk of this happening. He looked at his laptop and saw an email pop up. There was a moment of panic but he saw it was about the case.

“Like this? A uni found a burner cell in the garbage outside Willard’s apartment, here’s the outgoing call list. Ok yeah, one call to Bennett’s office”

“We knew that”

“And then one call to Barba’s office.”

‘shit’

“Told you it made sense.” Fin had been proven right.

\----------

Sonny and Oliva were in the Bronx in the apartment building of Ashtonja Abreu. Sonny didn’t really know what to think. He knew exactly what and outsider might think. ADA gets a blackmail call, the blackmailer also called a young woman around the same time, then the ADA, who is well known for going after tough cases, drops what should be an easy case. Maybe he’d been in SVU too long as his mind instantly jumped to sex. Sonny knew Rafael well enough to know that wouldn’t be what happened, but on the other hand here they were. He wished Rafi was more willing to share any details about his life, then he wouldn’t have this horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. They talked all the time but all Sonny knew about Rafael’s life before Sonny planted himself in it was stuff he’d learnt through work. Nick was ranting about Barba one day and that’s how Sonny learned where Rafael grew up. He found out about Rafael’s Abuela after Walter Briggs and was amazed Rafael had managed to hold it together throughout the case. Then of course they all knew about Rafael’s connection to Alex Muñoz and Eddie Garcia.

He’d desperately wanted to contact Rafael and find out what was going on but he knew that would be risky right now. He’d even tried to think of something he could text Rafael that would look work related but would be code, a reference to an old case or something, there’s nothing suspicious about someone with a shiny new law degree asking a more experienced colleague a legal query. But he chose not to. He knew Rafael wouldn’t have done anything wrong, but it still worried him. What could he have done that meant he thought had no option but to recuse himself?

Liv told Sonny she would take the lead. She was mad. Rafael was her friend and someone had gone explicitly after him. Sonny was relieved, he was struggling to keep calm. It was February 14th, Valentine’s Day, the first Valentine’s Day he’d been in a relationship with Rafael for. He’d had plans for today. Nothing fancy, a home cooked meal, a card and a box of Rafael’s favourite chocolates. It was cheesy but it was all either of them wanted. The card he’d written was sitting on the side in his kitchen, he didn’t send dirty texts but he’d written one hell of a dirty card. He could already see Rafi’s reaction, an infamous eye roll, but he knew it would be appreciated. 

Liv knocked on the door, a bit stronger than she perhaps needed to. Time to find out the truth.

\----------

The case was over. Willard was going to jail and the next case was already on Sonny’s desk. But Sonny wasn’t thinking about that now. He was sitting in Rafael’s apartment, all dark wood and antique furnishings. It was a stark contrast to Sonny’s which was light and modern. Rafael had explained what had happened, about Ashtonja’s mother and the guilt he’d felt since that day. Sonny had comforted him, assured him he was a good person, that it wasn’t his fault. 

Rafael had a meeting with the DA the next day, that would be the moment of truth. Sonny reassured him that it would be ok, then tried to lighten the mood by saying if the worst happened and Rafael was fired they’d run away to Hawaii and open up a law firm, something they’d joked about a few times in the past.

They settled on the leather sofa, Sonny siting back with his feet resting on the coffee table, Rafael curled up against him resting his head against Sonny’s chest. Sonny put one arm around Rafael to hold him close and rested the other one on the arm Rafael has wrapped around Sonny’s waist. He could tell Rafael didn’t want any more serious talk tonight so kept the conversation light. He told him about ‘Miss 34B’ and all the relentless teasing Fin and Amada had been doing. A friend had snuck onto his laptop when drunk one evening and went shopping for his girlfriend, he knew how fake it sounded when he’d told the guys but he let them have their little joke. While he was talking he noticed Rafael had fallen asleep against him. It was obvious when he got here Rafi had had a few sleepless nights recently. The sappy side of him thought it was sweet that Rafael could finally fall asleep now that Sonny was here. He didn’t want to move him. Instead he spent the rest of the evening listening to Rafael’s breathing until he eventually drifted off as well.


End file.
